Michael Mann may be deep into working on his long-awaited Heat 2, but it’s another of his crime dramas — one that was dismissed and misunderstood in its own time — that’s suddenly back in the spotlight. As Miami Vice climbs the charts, the franchise is poised for a new big-screen revival. Joseph Kosinski — fresh off the one-two punch of Top Gun: Maverick and F1 — is directing the new Miami Vice reboot. Given Mann’s involvement with Heat 2 and Kosinski’s blockbuster hot streak, the reboot is expected to hit theaters long before Mann’s latest crime epic does. But for the moment, Mann's remake of his own show is sitting at number 10 on Starz.
Upon its release, Miami Vice earned divisive reviews and a muted $165 million worldwide box office against a production budget rumored to be as high as $150 million. With only a modest profit margin and word-of-mouth that was more confused than enthusiastic, the film faded quickly. Miami Vice holds a 47% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics' consensus reads, "Miami Vice is beautifully shot, but the lead characters lack the charisma of their TV series counterparts, and the underdeveloped story is well below the standards of Michael Mann's better films."
Miami Vice also had some major issues during production, which were later deemed to lie at the feet of Jamie Foxx, who won his Oscar for Ray during production. It was said to have given him the idea that he deserved more money and other perks, such as top billing over Colin Farrell. The movie has only grown in stature since its release, frequently being described as one of the greatest cult classics of the last two decades.
Is 'Miami Vice' Worth Watching?
In a retrospective review for Collider, Jeffrey Speicher described it as "a misunderstood international crime epic that didn't fail to deliver the goods but was met by a stubborn American audience that was expecting an amped-up, big-budgeted version of the enormously successful series from a bygone era," while hailing the performances of the leading duo:
"If you've seen 2022's Banshees of Inesherin,the tour-de-force performance in HBO's The Penguin in 2024 (which should garner Farrell an Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series), or Foxx's Oscar-winning turn inRay, you're familiar with these two actors' range. Both deliver nuanced performances in Miami Vice that, over a running time of 135 minutes, leave you fully invested in their character arcs. Through their personal and professional relationships, it's the unspoken bond between the two vice cops that stands out."
Miami Vice is streaming on Starz now.